CALM SEAS AND EXCITED PEOPLE – a sea day – May 2
Today was another sea day, and we were still making our way up the coast toward our next port, Puerto Vallarta. Mark was already up and ready to visit his friend Leyston the barista when I crawled out of bed. We had changed our minds about attending the Princess meet and greet this morning, since we had already seen them all out and about (which is code for “I knew he would hate it”), so I gave him our tickets to turn in to Guest Services. Maybe there were some sad little girls without tickets on a waiting list and we made their day.
Soon, I got a text from Mark saying he was up on deck nine, port side. I found him chatting with some of our cruise group friends. We went to Cabanas for a quick breakfast, then to the Buena Vista Theater for Captain Puckett’s 9:15 talk on The Expansion of the Panama Canal. He told lots of “sea stories” today, and I really enjoyed this presentation, making a mental note to mention him in the survey at the end of the cruise.
Afterward, we walked down one deck to Shutters to see our photos. There was nothing of note in our portfolio, but people were swarming around the sales desk. We waited for our turn to see what they were looking at, and saw they were photos of our ship taken during our Canal crossing. We bought two 8x10s and headed up to the room with them before we got a chance to bend them somehow.
I grabbed my book and we went up to the pool deck to read. We weren’t planning a big lunch today, because we were having dinner at Palo tonight; we always go to Palo on Pirate Night, since Mark hates that menu. As soon as we got up to deck ten, Darren made an announcement to say that Captain Robert said today was our best chance yet to see sea life. We immediately saw a small pod of dolphins!
We decided to move down to deck four for a chance to see them better. We saw a few solitary sea turtles, but no more dolphins. I took my book to a nearby lounge chair as Mark kept his vigil at the rail.
Every now and then he would say “Oh! Babe! Come here!” and the people next to me got up to go look too. Once he called us over and there was absolutely nothing to see; I turned to the girl next to me and said “I think he needs to clean his glasses…” We even had a princess looking!
It was almost one o’clock, and our tummies were talking, so we made our way up to deck nine to check out our lunch options. Pete’s was all fried food – nope. Daisy’s looked good: fruit and that wonderful tomato, brie and bacon sandwich. We went into Cabanas to scope out our options there and decided we wanted Daisy’s after all. I told Mark I would grab a table and get our drinks if he got our food, since he wasn’t quite sure what he would want. He put his book down on a table in the corner as he left, in one of those “pods” that bump out from the side of the ship. As I sat down with our drinks and looked around I could see about a dozen dolphins breaking the surface of the water – and Mark was missing it!
Everyone in that part of Cabanas was ooh-ing and ahh-ing! The servers were gathering around us to see them. Shortly after Mark returned with our food we saw a huge pod of about fifty coming under the ship from the port side in small groups, over to us on the starboard. They were leaping and racing, and gave us a great show! Please forgive the reflection of our clothing on the windows.
We heard a rumor that someone even spotted a whale!
After lunch I grabbed a banana ice cream cone and went back to the room to nap. Mark stayed up topside to read…and look for more dolphins, I’m sure! He was back in the room at three to join me for the 3:15 showing of the new live-action Beauty & the Beast movie. As we got to the front row (for knee room) we saw a slew of our cruise friends already there! We sat beside Joh and Gary, and as we waited for the movie to start I realized I didn’t have a Kleenex. Now, I can cry over a cute dog food commercial, so I knew I had to have a tissue for this! Joh was kind enough to offer one, and while I had three sniffy moments I only cried once. Strangely, it was when Lumiere and Cogsworth said goodbye. I don’t know why that hit me so hard…
Back in the room after the movie, I sorted laundry for another early-morning run to the launderette. Mark went for another walk – he was determined not to gain weight on this cruise! He came back to the room with time enough for a quick shower before we went up to Palo for our seven o’clock dinner.
We were seated in the large private room where we had our group brunch, now set with four small tables. The amazing Hristo would be our server again tonight. Mark ordered the Palo Martini, which he declared to be delicious, and offered me a sip. I have to agree – it was everything I enjoy in an alcoholic beverage: sweet, fruity, and not overly “boozy.” But it quickly snuck up on him, so if you try one, be sure to sip it slowly!
After the antipasta course we shared the Papardelle pasta with lobster.
When we had lunch with Bart and Hym, they told us about the Dover Sole Hym enjoyed at their Palo dinner, describing the painstaking way the fish is carved for service at the tableside. Mark ordered the Sole tonight, and we enjoyed watching Hristo masterfully removing the capers and other aromatics from the fish, then removing one half of the top of the flesh, then the other side of the flesh. He then lifted the bones of the fish off in one piece, replaced the two top filets onto the bottom filet, scattered the aromatics over it all, and plated it. It was a beautiful presentation, and Mark said it was delicious. Hristo said the Sole is the single most expensive item they use.
I had my usual Palo Tenderloin, done a perfect medium. For dessert we had both soufflés on the menu:
Chocolate for me…
…and amaretto for Mark.
Our seven o’clock dinner was over at ten, just in time for the pirate night fireworks. As we left Palo, there was a kids’ club Cast Member blocking the door out to deck ten, so we had to go down to deck nine and walk forward into the sea of Pirate Night partiers before we could walk upstairs to deck ten again.
We walked indoors from the port side to starboard, standing just above the stage. It was quickly way too crowded and far too noisy for me, and I bailed. I took my shoes off my sore feet at the elevator lobby and headed for the serenity of my own little corner and my own little chair. Mark returned shortly after and found me in bed with my “boyfriend.”